Mail chute



Mar. 27, 1923. 1,450,139

J. J. CUSICK MAIL CHUTE Filed July l2, 1922 Patented Mar. 27, 1923.

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN J. 'CUSICIL OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

MAIL CHUTE.

Application led July 12, 1922. Sera1.No. 574,421.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOHN J. Cusick,

a citizen of the United States, anda resident of the city of New York,borough of Manhattan, in the county and State oi New York, have inventeda new and Improved Mail Chute, of which the following is a description.

My invention relates to `mail chutes and particularly to the mail chutesprovided in office buildings and apartment houses and having letterdrops at the vvarious floors of the building.

In the actual use of the mail chutes referred to, it not infrequentlyoccurs that the chute becomes clogged by the forcing ofmail matter intothe drop of a size or characterA that will cause it to become wedged inthe chute. For example, bulky letters or packages are doubled orotherwise bent and compressed into a suiiiciently small compass to enterthe slot or opening of the letter drop so that deposited matter willexpand and wedge itselr" in the chute. A. further objectionable featureof the usual chute is that the clogged matter is not readily accessible.

The general objectbf vmy invention is to provide in association with theletter drop of each floor an auxiliary choke chute which will retain any`matter deposited therein which could possibly clog the mainv chute.

A y:Further object of the invention is to provide means to afford readyaccess to the choke chute should it become clogged, and to provide meansfor locking the said first means so that unauthorized persons may notgain access to the auxiliary chute.

The means by whichthe above and vother objects areattained and theadvantages of the invention will more clearly appear as the inventionproceeds.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing, it beingunderstoodthat the drawing is merely illustrative of 7two examples ofthe invention.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a mail chute embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is a transverse vertical section;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal vertical section'through the top of theauxiliary chute :forming the letter drop; yand In the illustratedexample the numeral 10 indicates a mail chute adapted in practice toextend vertically in a building. At each floor oi ythe building lprovide in association with the main chute 10 an auxiliary choke chute11, the front of which for its major portion is parallel with the mainchute. The lower portion 12 of `the auxiliary chute extends obliquely,from the vertical front portion toward the `main chute and merges intothe front `wall 13 of the main chute. broken at the inclinedportion 12so that the main andauxiliarychutes are in communication. The Obliquityof the lower yportion 12 of the auxiliary chute 11V to the plane of thefront wall 13 of the main chute results in a choke 14; at the lower endof the auxiliary chute 11. The auxiliary chute 11 yhas parallelverticalwalls forits major portion. The front vertical wall is provided with aglass panel 15, the lower end of which sets, in the present instance,ybehind a frame element .or transverse cleat 16. The side edges vof theglass panel 15 are slidably fitted. in groove 17 in thev sides of theauxiliary chute 11,so that said glass panel may be lifted andreinovedfor affording access to the auxiliary chute should the latterbecomeclicked. The auxiliary chute 11 above the choke 14 is of larger crosssectional area than the main chute 10 to thus constitute an expansionchamber vfor folded lor squeezed mail matter.

I provide for locking the removable glass panel 15, Jfor which purposein the form shown yin Figures 1 to 3, a letter drop is afforded through'an opening 18 in a top board 19 on the chute 11. Said board 19 at oneend` (see Figure 3) is adapted to be entered in a notch 20 in one sidewall of the auxiliary chute 11 and the board k has a sufhcient width Vtooverlie the top of the glass panel 15, there being a notch 21 in theunderside ofthe board 19 to receive the upper edge lof the panel 15. Onthe board 19 Vat the underside is a lock 22 at k,that end of theboardopposite the notch 20, and the latch bolt 23 of the lock is adaptedto be ,operated by a key inserted in a key-hole 24 in the board 19.Itwill Said front wall 13 is be understood that any suitable plate orclosure may be employed for the top of the chute 11 andai'lording aletter drop.

By my described arrangement, if a bulky letter or other like package isforced through the drop opening 18 so that it will expand to a size andform that would choke the main chute 10, the said letter will assumevits enlarged form in the parallel portion of the chute 11 with theprobability of wedging itself in said parallel portion. At all eventsthe choke 14: willnot pass any mailed letter or other article of a sizeand form to choke the main chute 10. Should the auxiliary chute 11`become clogged the vclosure 19 may be readily removed. and thiswillpermit the removal of the panel 15 for the ready clearing of thechute. The removalof the panel 15 will not automatically dislodgemattei` wedged in the choke 14, or permit its escape through the mainchute, the removable panel 15 being above the v choke 14.

In Figure `4 the cover 119 for the top of the auxiliary chute 111 isprovided with a lock 122 and withva notch 121 to engage the upper edgeof the removable glass panel 115. The cover 119 is hinged at its rearedge as at 120 to be raised or lowered forreleasving or engaging thepanel 115. When the panel 115 is disengaged from the cover 119, saidpanel may be'removed by sliding it vertlcally in the groove 117. In theform of the inventionA illustrated, the panel 115 has y.an opening 118for use as a letter drop and in order to prevent a person using an in-Istrument with a view to force. downwardly anyI matter observed to wedgein the auxiliary chute 111, I provide a guard 124.# at the inner side ofthe panel 115.

I would state in conclusion that although the illustrated formconstitutes a practical embodiment of invention I do not wish to beunderstood as limiting, myself to the precise details illustrated, sincemanifestly,

the saine can be considerably` varied with out-departing from the spiritof the invention as dened in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A mail chute comprising a main chute and an auxiliary chute affordingan entrance .formatter ,to be mailed and communicating at' its lower endwith ythe main chute,r said.

lower. end ot the auxiliary chute constituting achoke to exclude fromthe main chute y matter that Ywould clog the latter', said auxiliarychute above said choke being of greater cross sectional `area than themain chuteand having a removable panel above said choke.

2. Amail chutel comprising a main chute and an auxiliary chute affordingan entrance for matter to bermailed and communi eating at tits lower endwith the main chiite, 1 said lower end of the auxiliary chute conUstituting a choke to exclude from the main chute matter that would clogthe latter, said auxiliary chute being of approximately uniform widthfor its maj or portion above said choke and said majorvv portion beingor greater cross sectional area than the main chute to permit greaterexpansion of mail matter than the main chute.

3. A mail chute including a main kchute and an auxiliary chute affordingan opening for entrance of mail and communicating' at -its lower endwiththe main chute, the major portion of the auxiliarychute b eing ofapproximately uniform width, said auxiliary chute having a'` removablevertically slidable panel at said portion of uniform width, andtheauxiliary chutebelovr chute presenting grooves in opposite sides, a

vertically slidable panel fitting said grooves.I

and va movable closurev for the outer end of the auxiliary chute,saidpclosure adapted to be engaged wither to disengage said panel toretain the panel or to permit removal thereof.

5. A mail chute including a main chute,

an auxiliary chute, the lower portion of which forms a choke to excludematter that would clog the main chute, said auxiliary chute presenting`vertical grooves in opposite sides, a panel slidably fittingsaidgrooves,

and a movable'closure for the outer end-of the auxiliary chute, saidclosure adapted to be engaged with or to disengage said panel to retainthe panel or to permit removal thereof; together with meansto lock saidclosure in position.

6. In mail chute, a main chute, an aux-k iliary chute havingatransparent front wall extending substantially parallel with the wallsof` the mainv chute and van inclined wall extending, at an angle to saidtransparent wall connecting said kwall vwith the front wall of the mainchute. f

7. In a mailchute, the combination with -a main chute of anauxiliarychute arranged in the front of the main chuteand provided witha vwall. substantially parallel, with the front wall of the main chuteand a lsecond wall extending at an angle to said vparallel walls andconnecting the front wall of the auxiliary chute with the front wall ofthe main chute, the front wall of the main chute being open `adjacentthe. upper portion of said second wall. for aifording a 'communicationof the auxiliary chute vwith they main f p chute.

8. In combination with kaanainvchuterof an auxiliary chute havingsidewalls presenting vertically extending grooves at their inner facesadapted to receive a transparent panel and a key-operated slotted coverprovided with an under slotted groove adapted to engage the upper end ofsaid panel.

9. A mail chute including a main chute and an auxiliary chute, the lowerportion of the auxiliary chute forminga chokin chamber to exclude matterthat would clog the main chute, said auxiliary chute presenting groovesin the inner face-s of its sides, a vertioally-slidable panel fittingYthe said grooves and a movable closure formed With a slot at its underface adapted to receive the upper end of said panel to retain the upperend of said panel in position.

JOHN' J. CUSICK.

